From Virginia the photographer (who has joined the ship from Los Angeles, USA)...
Aahhh, the allure of the sea, I am beginning to understand what this means.
Yesterday was my first day at sea; the first of 14 days and nights of continual motion rocking and rolling and not to The Rolling Stones either. When I was offered this commission to document the mission for the Deep Sea campaign, I took it as I would take any other assignment, with a demeanor of professionalism and with little true emotive comprehension of what lay before me apart from doing my job as well as possible. The sea's life and its magic was abstract to me in my urban lifestyle.
I didn’t feel the allure of the sea in the first half of the first day. Quite the contrary as I was beckoned instead to the commodes. Enough said on this topic, and thankfully so.
It began when I ventured to the absolute point of the bow. It was there that I started my ponderings of the sea. As I stood at the edge with only the ship’s railing dividing me in my own landlubber universe from what I didn’t know beyond the rail... a whole other life aquatic. Peering into the massive volumes of water below me and succumbing to the waves’ swaying motions, I began to imagine the depths below the surface, the wondrous sea life and aquatic terrain.
The top of the sea has inspired great songs, poems and novels. The sounds and sways of the siren’s song and dance beckon both men and women to the high seas. But deep, deep, deep below holds another allure that has still to be understood and sadly in need of protection from destruction. At that moment a wave came over me. No, not a wave of water but a wave of clarity for the sea and its divine right as a life force which leads to the essence of our mission and why we are here in the North Atlantic Ocean.
-Virginia
Comments
A long read and very interessting. How can I e-mail it to our Canadian Fisheries minister?
I want to publicly comment and say that I enjoy your perspective and accounts of your experience with greenpeace. I hope to one day find a position with greenpeace that I qualify for and write of the same personal satisfaction and inner reward.
I'd also like to ask you to extend a thank you to the crew. You people are heros and I hope there is no shortage of people telling you so. I support Greenpeace, in a very vocal way, yet I am astounded by how so much of the general public views this organization as being extreme and "eco-terrorists" with violent and destructive methods of confronting very valid issues around the world. A pure injustice.
I live in Oregon where gilnetters are having a tremendous impact on non-target fish species during their haul. I hope to find a way to encourage greenpeace to look into this and possibly make suggestions as to how to raise public awareness, challenge the political process that allows this to happen and/or assist in an effort to change it.
Thank you all so much!
I look forward to the continued blogs!
Peace!
Posted by: D. Davis at July 31, 2005 08:41 PM
If only everyone spent a little time with the sea and grew to understand it more. Then people would realise just why Greenpeace are trying to proect it. We would accomplish our mission quicker that way. It's a shame that not everyone can see the beauty of the sea.
--Kieron
Posted by: Kieron Barnes at July 29, 2005 02:16 PM
